European Travel Restrictions Imposed By Denmark, Poland And Czech Republic

Today, in an effort to flatten the curve of COVID-19, a number of European countries announced their intention of closing their borders to foreign nationals. As of this writing, that list includes Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic. See: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-51866403

At this early stage, much like with the announcement from the President on Wednesday night, the initial reporting made it seem that the measures were broad and sweeping and, like everything else, the devil is in the details. While we continue to seek additional information for Poland and Denmark for exceptions, the Czech Republic has indicated that exceptions will be permitted for several professions, one of which is truck drivers. See here: https://www.praguemorning.cz/czech-republic-state-of-emergency/ This is important because truckers very seldom operate only within the country of their citizenship.

What is important to note is that despite these measures and the announcement by the United States which will impact transatlantic air cargo capacity, air and sea lanes continue to be open for the movement of cargo from critical component producers to manufacturers for assembly.

TOC Logistics anticipates that as Europe and the United States work through many of the same challenges in the movement of goods and people as China had to in January and February, the next several weeks will pose operational challenges as we seek solutions to keep cargo moving.

Rest assured that we are here, we are committed and working together with our global partners, our customers and their suppliers, we will all work together to ensure continuity of business as we confront this global health challenge and work to be prepared for the sudden uptick when the supply/demand/capacity equation realigns.